an urban dweller

Discovery have a lovely set of promos on their channel - random little two minutes pieces about a person of interest. They never tell you who they're featuring so unless you recognise them or their work, you're in the dark, but intrigued.
The first one I saw was of a night club owner, the next a local artist Gregor Jenkins (him I recognized). Last night's was of Jackie Kwan, a young Asian guy living in Johannesburg practicing that strangest of all sports, Parkour. It's beautiful to watch, and you can't help but be in awe of him. And with that, I also felt a certain sense of pride in Johannesburg, the bustling edgy city that it is.

It's a simple video of a small piece of urban culture tucked away in an enormous city where only those who are looking really hard, will find it.

Unfortunately, the only version I could find online of the vid has been dubbed, but you get the idea:

new year’s resolution #1

It’s the most obvious one of all, and the one I tend to hate most: go to gym. Get fit.

For a range of reasons, I’ve not consistently done any exercise since leaving ‘varsity. I hate feeling intimidated when I walk into a gym and I’m surrounded by people who know what they’re doing.
They know where the machines are. They know how the machines work. They know where the change rooms are, what the classes are, who the instructors are, what to wear, what not to wear, what to do, what not to do, how to do it, how many to do, how heavy to do them, how to TURN THE TV ON ON THEIR MACHINES!!!

I don’t know any of it, and it pisses me off. So I don’t go. Easy way out, I know.
So this year I’ve resolved to not only go to gym, but to overcome my fear and uncertainty of gyms. To this end I’ve re-signed my contract (yes, they cancelled it ‘cos I wasn’t attending), picked a machine I know how to turn on, and I try go each day, just for 20 minutes.

Sounds lame, but it’s a start. I’m able to walk directly to my machine, push the buttons I need, and do my thing for 20 minutes. For me, it’s huge. In time, I might do my thing for longer, or harder. I may even change machines, or routines. It’s a crazy world!